infinitely little he!
Has he a genius? 'Tis nothing without goodness!
Without some grace, no grandeur do we rate.
It is the tender-hearted who show charity in kindness.
Unseen of men, he hides his gift from sight,
He does all that he owes in silent good,
Like the poor widow's mite;
Yet both are great,
Great above all--great as the Grace of God."

This is, of course, a very feeble attempt to render the words of Jasmin.
He was most pathetic when he recounted the sorrows of the poor. While
doing so, he avoided exciting their lower instincts. He disavowed all
envy of the goods of others. He maintained respect for the law, while
at the same time he exhorted the rich to have regard for their poorer
brethren. "It is the glory of the people," he said at a meeting of
workmen, "to protect themselves from evil, and to preserve throughout
their purity of character."

This was the spirit in which Jasmin laboured. He wrote some other poems
in a similar strain--'The Rich and Poor,' 'The Poor Man's Doctor,' 'The
Rich Benefactor' (Lou Boun Riche); but Jasmin's own Charity contained
the germ of them all. He put his own soul into his poems. At Tonneins,
the emotion he excited by his reading of Charity was very great, and the
subscriptions for the afflicted poor were correspondingly large.

The municipality never forgot the occasion; and whenever they became
embarrassed by the poverty of the people, they invariably appealed to
Jasmin, and always with the same success. On one occasion the Mayor
wrote to him: "We are still under the charm of your verses; and I
address you in the name of the poor people of Tonneins, to thank you
most gratefully for the charitable act you have done for their benefit.
The evening you appeared here, sir, will long survive in our memory. It
excited everywhere the most lively gratitude. The poor enjoyed a day of
happiness, and the rich enjoyed a day of pleasure, for nothing can be
more blessed than Charity!"

Jasmin, in replying to this letter, said: "Christ's words were, 'Ye have
the poor always with you'; in pronouncing this fact, he called the world
to deeds of charity, and instituted this admirable joint responsibility
(solidarite), in virtue of which each man should fulfil the duty of
helping his poorer neighbours. It is this responsibility which, when the
cry of hunger or suffering is heard, is most instrumental in bringing
all generous souls to the front, in order to create and multi